Love knows no bounds.Cursed by the dark mage who killed her, Hilda Janssen has wandered the Earthly plane as a ghost for fifty years, finally finding her place as an IRT hunter, policing supernatural misfits trapped on Earth after a brutal war.When a demon attacks, putting her team in mortal danger, Hilda sacrifices herself to save her friends. She’s already died once; what difference will doing it again make? But instead of meeting a final death, Hilda is cast into the Void, a magical prison from which there is no escape.Her only hope is Cade Kerrigan, the lover she left behind after her first death. Their bond and his magic are the only things strong enough to pull her through the Veil. But Cade has no idea his soulmate came back as a ghost, and he isn’t too happy to have been left in the dark.They must put aside the baggage of the past to save Hilda from a fate worse than death.Warning: Contains star-crossed lovers destined for a second chance, a whirlwind of powerful magic, and a love so strong it defies even death.

The Review: Piercing the Darkness was a great short story in the Shadow Born series and gives us a greater insight into the life of the resident ghost Hilda.We met Hilda in the previous two books as the ghost that wanders around the home of the IRT, she has been a ghost for fifty years following being cursed and killed by a dark mage. What we didn’t know was that she left behind her soul mate – Cade Kerrigan – who never moved on from her death. When she agrees to be a sacrifice in order to save everyone from the latest evil, she unexpectedly ends up in the ‘void’ an in between the veil place that has been used as a magical prison – with no way out. The only one who could possibly save her is her long lost love Cade, Cade doesn’t even know that she still exists so we’re left wondering if he will even try to save her…. Can he put aside the past? Will he save her? Or leave her to the energy sucking fiends that will take her every chance they get.So, I loved this addition to the series and was quite surprised that it was Hilda that got her own story. She wasn’t one of my favourite characters from the series, she has a certain manner where you don’t quite know where she stands but this was a great way to really get to know her and really did make her more likable.The storyline carried perfectly on from book two and gave us the planning phase where we see Hilda agreeing to sacrifice herself, she had no body with her being a ghost so was given one in order to be sacrificed. We witness the showdown from her point of view and then we find out that she isn’t dead, she was trapped in the Void by the demon with no way out. Brenna & Grey try and try to get her out but it’s not working so Seraph seeks out Cade and we find out that Cade didn’t even know she still existed. I really liked this scenario and I thought the way Cade was brought into the story was so natural and felt right. We got dual point of views which gave a well rounded story and gave us a great insight into how both characters felt and what they were going through. The bond they shared came across really well and you could tell that they both weren’t over each other which showed the soul mate angle to be true. Cade’s true character shone through when he decided to rescue Hilda even though she hadn’t come to him in fifty years and that again showed the strength of his love for her. I was definitely routing for the pair to end up back together but wondered if Hilda would still have her body if she was saved.The threat came by way of the prisoners of the void, the reason there is no way out… but that’s not all Hilda finds there.The Eversors are energy sucking fiends and Hilda is ripe to be fed from, what they do is a fate worse than death, a purgatory if you will because they take you to the brink of death, let you heal and do it all over again. She must keep one step ahead but they can sense energy and that makes it difficult to use her powers. There are a lot of close shaves and Cade definitely has a race against time on his hands but the ending is very satisfying and it also looks like Cade will become a regular in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I can’t wait for more. Thank you to Angela Dennis for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.